STATE OF THE DEAD

was bom. If some such brilliant star appeared, this would be taken as portending that the moment tor the appearance of such an one had arrived, and search would be made for the Great One. So, in the Apocalypse (Rev 22"), our Lord is represented as claiming for Himself that He is not only ' the root and the offspring of David,' but also 'the bright, the morning star.'

H. A. Redpath.

STATE OF THE DEAD.— See Eschatoloqt, Paka-oisE, Sheol.

STATER.— See Money, § 7.

STEALING.— See Chimes, § 6 ' Theft.'

STEEL. — See Mining and Metals.

STEPHANAS. — A Corinthian, apparently of some importance, whose household were baptized by St. Paul personally (1 Co 1"), and are called 'the first-fruits of Achaia' (16"). Stephanas himself had joined the Apostle at Ephesus when he wrote, and was of great assistance to him there. A. J. Maclean.

STEPHEN.— Early in the history of the Christian Church it was found necessary for the Apostles to devolve some of their duties on others. There is no reason for supposing (with Prof. Ramsay) that presbyters had yet been appointed, though they soon followed; but in Ac 6 seven persons, commonly (but not in NT) called 'deacons,' all but one probably Hellenistic or Greek- speaking Jews (see art. Nicolas), were appointed to manage the distribution of alms to the Hellenist widows. Of the Seven, Stephen was the most prom-inent. Their duties were not eleemosynary only; Stephen at once undertook evangelistic work and won great success, persuading many, and working miracles. His success resulted in the first persecution of the Church, and false witnesses were brought who accused him of blasphemy, and of speaking against the Temple and the Law. He made a long defence (Ac 72-"), which is not easy of interpretation. He sum-marizes OT history from the call of Abraham to the building of Solomon's Temple (ct. St. Paul's sermon in Ac 13), in a manner which shows that he depended partly on tradition, for there are many discrepancies between his speech and OT. He speaks with great respect of the Mosaic Law (vv.'^-as. 6S). Some think that he disparages the Temple as having been built against God's will (v.***-). But this is very improbable. Perhaps the defence was not completed; yet what was delivered gives its drift. The Jews had misunderstood their own Law. God had not confined His presence to the Tabernacle and the Temple; He had appeared to Abraham and others before the Law was given; Isaiah (66") had preached that God's worship was not confined to one place. But the people had persecuted the prophets as they now had killed Jesus. This defence provoked the Jews so much that they cast Stephen out of the city and stoned him — undoubtedly an illegal murder, not sanctioned by the Roman law. Stephen, whose dying prayer for his murderers (v.™) recalls that of his Master, thus became the first Christian martyr. His death led to a persecution, and to a dispersal of the disciples from Jerusalem. This caused the spread of the gospel to many lands. But the most prominent fruit of the martyrdom, doubtless, was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who was present (7'* 8'), and of whom, as is generally acknowledged, Stephen was in his preaching the forerunner. A. J. Maclean.

STEWARD. — This term is found six times in AV of OT. It is applied to Eliezer in Gn I52, where RV rightly tr. 'he that shall be possessor of my house.' In Gn 43" 44'-* Joseph's 'steward' (AV and RV) is lit. 'he who was over his house' (cf. 43", 1 K 16' in RV). In 1 Ch 28' AV 'stewards' is tr. of Heb. sarlm (lit. 'princes,' RV 'rulers'). For the 'steward' of Dn !"• " (RV), see Melzab. The NT terms are (1) epitropos, ' steward ' in Mt 20^,

STONE

Lk 8'; also translated in Gal 42 AV 'tutors,' RV 'guardians.' (2) oiftonomos, the usual term, found both literally and metaphorically, as is also the cognate noun oikonomia ' stewardship.' The latter is used literally in Lk le^i- '■ ', and metaphorically in 1 Co 9", Eph 3', Col 1», 1 Ti 1* [in last three ' dispensation,' RVm ' stewardship '].

W. F. Boyd.

STOCKS.— See Chimes, 9; Phison, p. 7561'.

STOICS.— When St. Paul met representatives of the Stoic philosophy at Athens (Ac l?'^), that school had been in existence for about three centuries and a half. The name came from the Stoa or Porch where Zeno (about B.C. 340-265), the founder of the school, taught at Athens.

The leading Stoic maxim is, 'Live according to nature.' Nature both in the world and in man is to be interpreted by its highest manifestation — Reason — which appears in the world as the all-pervading ethereal essence or spirit, forming and animating the whole; and in man as the soul. This World-spirit occupies the place of God in the Stoic system. Thus we find St. Paul quoting the words of a Stoic writer, ' We are also his offspring' (Ac 17^'). The approximation, however, is in language rather than in reality. The theology of the Stoics is pure pantheism. Their so-called God has no independent or personal existence.

The supremacy of reason in man is pushed to such an extreme that virtuous conduct demands the entire suppression of the emotional side of man's nature. This rigorous moral standard became, for practical reasons, considerably modified; but Stoic morality was always marked by its rigidity and coldness.

The great quality of Stoicism, which set it above Epicureanism, and brought it into line with Christianity, was its mcrral earnestness. In his dissertation on 'St. Paul and Seneca' Bp. Lightfoot has said, 'Stoicism was the only philosophy which could even pretend to rival Christianity in the earlier ages of the Church." Perhaps there was in St. Paul's mind at Athens the high hope of bringing to the side of Christ such a noble rival of the gospel. Yet Stoicism and Christianity ran parallel rather than came into contact with one another, until through the weakness inherent in its theology and its ethics the current of Stoic philosophy was dis-sipated and lost. W. M. M'Donald.

STOMACH.— This English word occurs in 2 Mac 7" with the meaning of ' courage,' ' Stirring up her womanish thoughts with a manly stomach.'

STOMACHER is the EV tr. of petMgU, whose meaning (Is 3^ only) is very uncertain. The Eng. word 'stomacher' was applied to that part of a woman's dress which covered the breast and the pit of the stomach. It was usually much ornamented, and was looked upon as an evidence of wealth.

STONE. — I. In OT. — 1. Several different words are rendered 'stone,' but the one of by far the most frequent occurrence is 'ebhen, which has the same wide range of application as its English equivalent. Palestine is a stony country, arid the uses to which stone was put were numerous and varied. In its natural state a stone served for a pillow (Gn 28i8) or a seat (Ex 1712), for covering the mouth of a well (Gn 29^-) or closing the entrance to a cave (Jos 10"; cf. Mt 27"' etc.). Out of it, again, might be constructed a knife (Ex 4^, Heb. tsar. RV 'flint '), a vessel (7"; ct. Jn 26), a mill (Dt 24»). Above all, stone was employed in architecture. Houses (Lv 14« etc.), walls (Neh 4', Hab 2"), towers (by implication in Gn 11^), and especially the Temple (1 K 5'"- etc.), are referred to as built of stone. We read of foundation-stones (1 K 5"), of a corner-stone (Ps 11822), of a head-stone or flnial (Zee 4'); and in 2 K 16" mention is made of a pavement of stone. Masonry was a regular trade (2 S 5" etc.), and stone-hewing is frequently referred to (2 K 12'2 etc.). Belong-ing to the aesthetic and luxurious side of life are precious

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